Tag Archives: classroom

I’ve been in school for about a month and our 3D printer (a Printrbot Plus) has been running almost every day throughout that time.

We are starting to collect little bits of plastic stuff around the classroom. Kids have printed out logos, letters, their name, figurines and pencil holders. Each of these projects are things that the student’s have designed using Google Sketchup. They have moved from smaller objects to larger, more complex pieces as they build on what they see each other doing.

When I first set my mind on getting a 3D printer for my classroom, I was determined that it wouldn’t be used to simply download objects from a repository like thingiverse, but that, instead, it would be a design tool. I’m happy to say that this is the way that we have been using it.

What I’ve learned though is that it isn’t only about the stuff that you make. The small cups and logos and cases that the kids have made are great. I love to see the look on their faces when they actually get to hold a physical object in their hands that they created on a screen. But it’s bigger than that. There is a lot of thought that goes into holding that object in your hands. There is the entire 3D design process that involves a lot of software skills and an extended thought process. It has been an amazing process to see watch the students teach each other tips and tricks for making things using the software. They have turned into a genuine learning community with experts and referrals happening almost each day (“Go see Justin, he knows how to make good arcs.” was what I heard this morning)

The entire printing process is still somewhat of a mystery to us. Printing isn’t as easy as pressing print on a document and walking away. Some objects haven’t printed correctly and we aren’t sure why. Some things simply won’t print at all. These are issues that we need to think through and troubleshoot. Hotend temperatures, feed speeds, layer heights and a dozen other variables all contribute to a successful project. These are things that we are learning as a class. Troubleshooting is, as always, a major source of learning. When things go wrong and you need to fix them – someone has to learn something!

Over the last few days more and more of my students are picking up Sketchup and choosing to work on a project. I have students not in my class who are coming in and wanting to know if they can create things and print them off. (my response: absolutely! Let me help you get the software that you need) The kids love the objects, the little bits of plastic that they end up with in the end, but like with most other technology learning in classrooms, it isn’t about that one single moment; it’s about all of the steps that need to happen to make that moment possible.

Just as blogging in a classroom with kids isn’t always about blogging, but about voice and connections, 3D printing isn’t always about that little plastic piece that you get to take home at the end of the day.

The students in my class are discovering something this year: making things is hard.

As I’ve been tweeting and writing about, I’ve managed to secure two 3D printers for my classroom this year. I’ve also made more of a commitment to myself to push the students in my classroom into more areas of “digital creativity.” I’m promoting working with Scratch, and I’ve got two Raspberry Pi computers in my classroom that we are working with. I’ve got several older (but still perfectly good) sets of Lego Mindstorms. I am also pushing things like Codeacademy with kids.

But my students are running into the fact that these things are hard to do. Students who say they are “good with computers,” are finding that the skills they have gained posting things on Facebook and playing Call of Duty don’t help them much when it comes to designing 3D objects or struggling with the logic of basic programming.

These things are hard to do and they require a balance of a lot of different skills:

creativity + logic + design + hands on skills = digital creations

We are raising a generation of computer users who believe that gaming and social networking are what computers are all about. They are trained to sit, watch videos and read webpages that are served up to them and press publish on a post or an update. Don’t get me wrong, I think that social networking can lead to positive connections between people. I run a classroom community that has about 100 students signed up on it which I hope will allow kids to see each other in new ways. But I also think that we need to balance this out with other possibilities in classrooms.

So this means that we struggle.

This means that I need to push kids to be creative and to fight through learning some of the skills that they need. This means devoting precious classroom time to a set of changing priorities that includes 3D design but not a spelling program. It means including some basic programming that will take some time from a few other subjects. These are all choices.

Making is hard, but the skills are valuable. It’s worth the push to get there.

3D printing is an exploding technology. The printers are definitely one of the hottest things on the technology market right now that you can buy. While some schools have had these printers for a few years, there are many more which are considering buying one to put in a classroom or a computer lab.

I’ve recently found out that I am receiving a grant in my classroom to buy a 3D printer. This drove me to do a lot of research on printers to make sure that I fully understood what I was buying. After doing all of this work, I thought I should share what I learned.

HISTORY

3D printing is exploding as an industry, but it has been around since at least the early 90′s as a community. Beginning in places like MIT, the community expanded out after that to people interested in hacking / design / DIY. This community still exists and is stronger than ever as the rest of the industry has gain international attention. It is centred around the concept of RepRap or self replicating manufacturing machines. A still fairly technical hobby, RepRap printers involve having a knowledge of building, electronics, soldering and software. It is from this community of tinkerers and hobbyists that today’s growing industry is emerging out of.

TODAY

The 3D printing industry today is changing and becoming much more mainstream. This is based mostly around ease of use. 3D printers in the past were sold mainly as kits (or even just lists of parts that you had to find yourself) that involved a fair amount of construction and soldering. Each printer had to be built, the electronics needed to be soldered, and the machines themselves, once they were put together, needed an extensive software set up and calibration process. The difference now is that some companies such as Makerbot, Printrbot, CubeX, Makibox and Afina are selling machines that are already constructed and ready to go out of the box. This has opened 3D printing up to a much larger market.

THINGS TO THINK ABOUT

Bringing a 3D printer into a school or classroom needs to be first and foremost about pedagogy and opportunity. As with any other technology, it will do little good to spend valuable budget dollars on technology that you haven’t got a solid plan to use. Shiny gadgets that sit in the corners of rooms and are not used do little to enhance learning.

Assuming that you have that significant hurdle tackled, you then need to move on to other questions and concerns. 3D printers are still a growing, changing technology that is moving quickly and is not as stable and reliable as, say, laptops are. This means that concerns such as reliability, the availability of spare parts, supplies and software upgrades are important. A 3D printer is not like a computer which you buy, install, and upgrades happen automatically and usually easily. These are machines which will need a time investment and some looking after. Unfortunately, there isn’t yet a good, solid measure of all of these factors. As fast as I found this blog post outlining reviews and different factors, I found this post debunking it.

One thing I learned that I was surprised about was that there are actually few differences in the quality of the models that the printers will produce. 3D printing was an open source hobby for years. Many of the commercial products that you buy are not that many generations away from the days of being open source, hobbyist projects. In fact, two of the best known companies, Makerbot and Printrbot, grew directly out of the RepRap community. While Printrbot was financed through a popular Kickstartr campaign and still uses open source software, Makerbot was heavily criticized for moving to proprietary licensing in its latest models. Overall, most of the models of machines that are available will print models of a very similar quality. Paying more money for a printer will probably not get you a higher quality machine. In fact, most discussions on 3D printers insist that the quality of what you build is much more dependent on the time that you spend in tinkering and calibration then the budget you spend on the machine. Paying more money at this point, will get you a machine that is already assembled and may be easier to use, but it will not get you a machine that will necessarily make higher quality models. The only other significant difference between most printers is the size of model that they will produce. Smaller, lower cost machines such as the Printrbot Simple (only $399 assembled) will print an approximately 100mm (4 inch) cube, while a larger model as the Makerbot Replicator will print much larger items that are 250mm X 150mm X 150mm (11 inches X 6 inches X 6 inches). You may also want to consider the cost of a professional development course as an important part of integrating a printer into your building.

WHAT I DECIDED

When I first considered buying a 3D printer, I had my heart set on a Makerbot. The name was well known, the printers are attractive looking, and Bre Pettis is well known as the face of the industry. But as I looked deeper into the printers and the industry, I found that while Makerbot has a reputation for building a good printer, the models it produces are no better than others on the market. Makerbot did not invent the technology, but they did make it more attractive, marketable, and easier to use. Once I started comparing printers and learned that most of them print at similar qualities and resolutions, I found that the $2 199 price of the Makerbot Replicator was high.

From there, I started to look around.

There are many companies that are producing printers. Many of them I had never heard of in the past. From hours of looking around, I settled on purchasing two different models:

1.) Printrbot Plus. I settled on a Printrbot for a number of reasons. First of all, they are reasonably priced. While the Makerbot Replicator is worth $2 199, the Printrbot can be purchased for $999. Second of all, the Printrbot can be purchased fully assembled. While it will still need calibrating and tinkering with, this is a machine that will get us moving into fabricating quickly.

2.) MendelMax. This is an open source RepRap printer. There are a few common models of RepRaps and they are constantly being tinkered with and improved by the community. There are a number of places that sell RepRaps and they vary in price and design, but overall, they are fairly similar. The MendelMax is going to be much more of a construction and design project for us, but these machines are much more “future – proof.” As all of the software is open source, it is easily upgraded. The same goes for the design of the printer itself. As improvements are made to the printer by people in the community, the improvements are shared and placed online. Once they are here, you can simply print off most of the parts you will need using your own printer.

These two printers are each approximately $1 000. I was amazed how much they have fallen in price. The cost of a decent laptop or two, they are becoming much more affordable and this will see them move into schools much more quickly than in the past. The two machines will cost approximately $2 000, but I am also going to order a few spare parts and the printing supplies (rolls of plastic filament) that we will need as well. I have read in a few places that one of the commonly used filaments (PLA plastic) ages and cracks over time so there is no use laying in store a large supply that will only be wasted if not used fairly quickly.

I thought this was a good visual of how far a kilogram (2.2 pounds) of PLA filament will go:

When you are deciding to buy a 3D printer for your school or classroom, make sure that you first take pedagogical and learning goals into account. These printers are no different than any other gadget and you must ensure that you have a solid plan in place for their use. After this, there are a number of other factors that you need to think about: budget, supplies, models, suppliers, reliability, time you want to spend on the machine itself, etc. These are all factors to consider. 3D printing is a powerful concept and my hope is that alongside with other things that we already have like a Makey Makey, Lego Mindstorms, Raspberry Pi computers and software such as Scratch, it will allow the students in my class to understand that they can control the technology they have access to and use it for creative goals of their own.

I made a move last year in my classroom towards making things using technology. While I’ve been an advocate of this philosophy for a while, last school year I tried to work on this more “formally,” introducing students to programming, working with a Makey Make that I ordered, doing some Scratch projects and using the two Raspberry Pi computers that I ordered. Like anything else it was frustrating at times and incredibly fun at others.

One more step this year. I just received word that I am going to be receiving a grant that I applied for that will be used to buy a 3D printer for my classroom. I have been waiting on this news for a few months so I am very excited to finally get it.

First of course…. I need to go shopping! I’ve been looking around while I’vekept my fingers crossed waiting for the news of this grant so I have a few ideas about what I’d like to buy. But, as usual, I am always looking for suggestions from anyone who has a printer already. Pros, cons, maintenance issues, cost of supplies, etc. All advice appreciated.

The second, much bigger challenge will be integrating a new device like this into the life of my classroom in a meaningful way. Sylvia Libow Martinez had it right

when she tweeted:

I need to find ways to have students work with all of these opportunities (Scratch, Raspberry Pi, a 3D printer, etc) in ways that will enhance and extend their learning in personal ways. I wan them to think of technology as something they can work with, design, and have some control over instead of it simply being something that you use.

What I don’t want is:

This is the danger of course. The fact that powerful technologies can be coopted into becoming “canned” learning experiences meant to fit an evaluation or assessment instead of being meaningful for the individual learner. As with any addition to my classroom, I need to find ways to work within my curriculum documents to extend and expand the possibilities for my students.

Another step in the life of my classroom. Another step in my own learning.

Attached to it was a pdf that they wanted me to sign authorizing a few authors to use the blogging rubric that I had created a few years ago. These authors were writing a college textbook potentially to be priced at $117 and they wanted to include my rubric in it. A few years ago I had signed the same paper allowing this resource of mine to be included in the first version of this book.

But this time I said no. This time I emailed them and simply said that I wasn’t interested in allowing them to use this piece. A few emails ensued where they questioned my decision and asked me to reconsider. In the end, I still said no thanks.

I’ve decided that there was no use allowing this piece of my work to be included in this textbook. This time, it just didn’t seem to make sense. I’ve been fortunate enough to have my classroom practices mentioned and examined in a number of books and articles. But, with my own stuff, everything I make and share online is covered under a Creative Commons license. If you want anything of mine; take it. Modify it. Use it in your classroom. Just don’t pretend its yours and sell it and make a bunch of money.

What effect will this have on Pearson publishing? None at all. I hope it doesn’t interfere with the authors (none of whom I know) or their work. I sincerely hope that their piece goes forward with this only being a small blip in the road for them. But in this day, when even a guy like me, an educator from a small town in the middle of nowhere, can have a global voice and share their work and ideas with anyone who wants it, publishing something in a locked down $117 book seems like an anachronism from another age.

A little more than a month ago I wrote a post called The New New Silent Reading. In it, I talked about my changing plans for my silent reading time.

I think that time like this is important to have in the classroom. School days can be pressure cookers of demands and content shoved at students. This time gives students time to pursue something that they want and to spend some quiet time with a book. In my classroom, barring unforeseen circumstances, we average 25+ minutes each day.

In that post I had written previously I talked about expanding what could happen during this time. This was always simply silent reading time in the past, but I wanted to expand it into something else if kids wanted. I started with allowing my students to read, write, draw, or edit photos during this time. Kids could write a blog post, comment on what others had written, make connections with people in another class. They could also draw and put their pictures online or edit photos they had previously taken. I gave each of my students a calendar and had them track what they did each day. At the end of a two week period we sat down as class and talked about how they had spent their time.

There wasn’t an explosion of creativity, but over half of my students chose to, at least some of the time, draw, write or work on photos. Blog posts were posted, things were shared, and students valued the idea of having some choice during this time. Many of my students still wanted to read. They valued this time during their day. But they also wanted the expanded idea of what could happen during this time period. Even if they didn’t do it themselves, they wanted others to be able to take part in creating something,

So I’ve decided to stick with it. I’ve also expanded it a bit more. Students can now work with video or audio during this time if they choose. I have a few students who have shot some video and are editing small pieces to put online. I’ve also had a few students working on original audio pieces during our studio time using Garageband.

All of this has me thinking and planning to do a regular classroom podcast as well, but this is proving to be a little more difficult than I thought it would be. My students are a fairly shy bunch and putting themselves out there, online, is something challenging for them. A goal for us to work towards.

In the end, I think that this has been a valuable change in my practice. A small change, nothing radical, but, as usual, giving kids more choice and a chance to share their voice, even in small ways, is important.

I don’t usually post links any more. That’s what I’ve got a twitter account for.

But I thought this one was worthy of its own post.

The 26 minute video below was produced in Australia by ChildFundAustralia. It is the result of what happens when you give 300 kids in 4 different countries video cameras and tell them to shoot footage of their days.

It’s worth your time to watch. I plan on watching it with the kids in my class.

But more than that, I think it is something that we could reproduce. What are the lives of our kids like? There are so many of us that live in all of the corners of the globe.

So I’m putting the invitation out there.

Anyone interested in doing something like this with other classes? You don’t need a lot of kids or equipment. You could simply give a camera to one or two students, get them to shoot their video, upload to a certain spot (my Dropbox?) and then it could be mixed in with the footage that is shot in other places. It would be even more interesting if we left the raw footage in my dropbox and teachers and classrooms who are involved with the project and interested could take that video and make their own version, all of us using the same footage. It would be interesting to see how they would be similar or different from each other.

Anyone interested? No big time commitment. One or two basic cameras. One or two kids (more if you want). A few minutes of footage of their day.

Get in touch with me at: glassbeed at gmail dot com or leave a comment on this post if you’re interested. If we can collect a few people, I’ll email you and we’ll make some plans to move ahead.

I ended up with an ipad this summer. While I’ve had both an android tablet and a Blackberry Playbook, this is the first school year where I’ve tried to use a tablet as a teaching tool.

One of the first, most valuable uses I’ve found for it has been as a mobile marking / grading tool.

When I taught small folks, I used to always carry a pad of sticky notes around with me and anecdotally record the learning behaviours that I noticed occurring in my class. If I saw a student choosing to use a dictionary on their own without being asked, I’d note it down. If I saw that a student included an introduction in a piece of writing, I’d write it. At the end of each school day, I took this pad of notes and transferred them on to a blotter that sat beside my desk that had each child’s name on it. Over time, I’d have a pile of specific observations about each child.

Rightly or wrongly, I’ve got away from this habit as I’ve moved up in the grades. Spending the last few years in middle school, this is an assessment tool that I’ve used little. But this year, due to the fact that we are implementing a new standardized report card across the province of Manitoba, everyone is taking another look at our assessment practices. Our report card includes a 1 – 4 rating scale for the skills that the province wants us to focus on in each subject. For example, in science, we are being asked to look specifically at:

- knowledge and understanding
- research and communication
- critical thinking and citizenship

We have many specific learning outcomes under each of these headings, but our new provincial report card asks us to group those learning outcomes into these categories.

What I’ve decided to do is to use these provincially mandated categories on google spreadsheets. Once I did this set up work, it has proved to be easy to take my ipad around the classroom and assess students on specific outcomes and skills as they work. While I certainly could have gone back to the sticky note pad method, this saves the step of doing the data entry later. As I go, I simply assess the students against a certain defined outcome and enter their score directly on to the google spreadsheet. Anything that saves teachers time in their classroom is worth it; we’re also busy enough.

I’ve always loved the blog Mattias Inks. It’s like having a steampunk art gallery showing up in your RSS reader. I’ve used it a number of times in my classroom to talk to kids about passion. About loving what you do. About sharing what you do with others.

I’m always interested in learning more about people like these two who so obviously have a passion for what they do. While we all need to eat to survive and need a place to lay our heads at night, the passion that people like these two gentlemen have for their work is something that needs to be shared with students.

In a more standards driven education system I wonder about making room for passion. Are legislators / teachers / administrators driving the possibility for passion out of the system? How do we make room for it in what we do? How do we find opportunities for our students to be and to meet people who are passionate creators?

This is a picture of my two sons. Christian (left – without the gun; he’s not grouchy honest, just a bad time for a picture.) and Alexander (right – still without the gun). I took this photo in Deadwood SD this summer right after we had watched the shooting of Wild Bill Hickock.

Alexander turned 12 this year and with a rush of pre – teen pride is entering grade seven. Which in our small town means that I am about to become his home room teacher. Alexander and I will be in the same classroom for most of the day. I will be teaching him math, science, language arts and social studies.

This has brought education and planning home to me in a whole new way. Each unit that I’ve been looking at before this school year has begun, I’ve found myself thinking of my own child:

Does he know how to do this? Will he struggle with this?

I think this is natural. We all want the best for our kids and are concerned about them.

As well, this has made me much more aware that EVERY child in my classroom has a parent behind them that wonders the same thing each day as they walk into my classroom. As classroom teachers, we go a long way towards helping kids build their dreams into a life time reality. People not involved with education may believe that we will be “easier” on our own kids if we have the chance. In fact, I can see that I will have to work very hard not to be too tough on him.

We bought Alexander a new Macbook this summer and he and I have been playing with it, setting up software, learning to use it a bit more and making sure he’s ready for his first days in the classroom. I’m both nervous and excited to have him in my classroom. I of course want him to do well and to learn to see the world with ever-more-mature eyes. Should start off the year in a new and interesting way.